Real estate, civic leader known for ‘servant’s heart’

TUSCALOOSA | Howard Haston Garrison, a businessman and a community leader, was found dead Thursday at his Commons North Loop residence. He was 66.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | Howard Haston Garrison, a businessman and a community leader, was found dead Thursday at his Commons North Loop residence.He was 66.While he suffered from health problems in the past, relatives said they were unsure of the cause of death.But what is known is the legacy of giving back that Garrison leaves behind.“He put in a lot of civic rent,” said Gene Poole, owner of Hudson-Poole Jewelers, who said he had known Garrison for almost 50 years. “He was a community-minded, civic-minded, great businessman who cared for his community and his neighbors.”Garrison had a 40-year career in real estate and made headlines in 2000 when his firm, Garrison Real Estate, then the second-largest real estate firm in Tuscaloosa, joined with the city’s largest firm of Duckworth-Morris.But it was his commitment to the community that people most remember, and it was a value he insisted on passing down.Garrison’s son, Lee, is a Tuscaloosa city councilman, now in his fourth term. The younger Garrison sought public office while still a student at the University of Alabama, his father’s alma mater. “One thing my father taught me was that you can be successful in business, but the most important things are your family and your service to people,” Lee Garrison said. “I saw that in him growing up, and it encouraged me to serve in some capacity.”He said the outpouring of calls from friends and colleagues in the wake of his father’s death has been overwhelming. And that, he said he believes, is a testament to way his father treated others.“He believed in relationships with people and in serving people. He wasn’t after it for the glory. He was in it to serve other people,” Lee Garrison said. “He did it for all the right things.“He had a servant’s heart, and I don’t think he had an enemy in the world. Every person and every organization that he came in contact with loved him.”During his career, Howard Garrison served as president of the Alabama Association of Realtors, chairman of the United Way of West Alabama, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama and president of the Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa. He also was active in other organizations.He also served in the Alabama Air National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve.Poole, who succeeded Howard Garrison as the chamber’s chairman in 2006, said he marveled at Garrison’s ability to be comfortable when with some of the most powerful leaders of the state and nation.“We were in Washington (D.C.) on a congressional visit, and I was just amazed at how at ease he was with his congressmen,” Poole said. “He was just a neat guy.”Realtor Joe B. Duckworth Sr., who was a partner of Garrison’s for about 20 years, said Garrison’s willingness to volunteer his time for a variety of organizations came from a sense of duty.“I guess he just felt like he had an obligation to do it. The opportunity arose, and he took it,” Duckworth said. “He was very personable. He always had a good sense of humor.“And through the good times and the bad times, he just seemed like he could deal with all of them.”Howard Garrison’s last agency was the Advantage Realty Group, where broker and owner Richard Ellis Jr. said he appreciated having someone with Garrison’s business experience on his team.“He was always a person who loved to teach, so having him here at Advantage was always a peace on my mind for having someone with his experience here in the office,” Ellis said. “He’s going to be missed. He was definitely a family man. He loved his son and he loved his kids — that’s for sure.“He was such a gentle, easy person. I’ve never known anyone who didn’t like him. He really cared about people and he really cared about the city of Tuscaloosa.”A service will be 10 a.m. Monday at the Tuscaloosa River Market. Visitation with the family will follow.